The Marriage Circle (1924)
Country: US
Technical: bw 85m
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Florence Vidor, Monte Blue, Marie Prevost, Adolphe Menjou, Creighton Hale
Synopsis:
Marital machinations and misunderstandings among the professional elite of 1920s Vienna.
Review:
Early example of Lubitsch's peculiar brand of sex comedy, with many egregious instances of the 'Lubitsch touch', where inanimate objects take on offscreen significance, or gestures and expressions lead to quid pro quo. E.g. At the breakfast table the husband taps his egg and the wife stirs a very muddy coffee; they kiss; cut to close-up of above-mentioned, with movement ceasing and hands withdrawing; in same shot, the hands return and push the items away. The whole is a light, sophisticated duel of femininity in which the men largely pass for saps, and barely a line of dialogue needs be intertitled. The only mystery is why the foxy Mizzi would be interested in dull old Dr. Braun in the first place.
Country: US
Technical: bw 85m
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Florence Vidor, Monte Blue, Marie Prevost, Adolphe Menjou, Creighton Hale
Synopsis:
Marital machinations and misunderstandings among the professional elite of 1920s Vienna.
Review:
Early example of Lubitsch's peculiar brand of sex comedy, with many egregious instances of the 'Lubitsch touch', where inanimate objects take on offscreen significance, or gestures and expressions lead to quid pro quo. E.g. At the breakfast table the husband taps his egg and the wife stirs a very muddy coffee; they kiss; cut to close-up of above-mentioned, with movement ceasing and hands withdrawing; in same shot, the hands return and push the items away. The whole is a light, sophisticated duel of femininity in which the men largely pass for saps, and barely a line of dialogue needs be intertitled. The only mystery is why the foxy Mizzi would be interested in dull old Dr. Braun in the first place.
Country: US
Technical: bw 85m
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Florence Vidor, Monte Blue, Marie Prevost, Adolphe Menjou, Creighton Hale
Synopsis:
Marital machinations and misunderstandings among the professional elite of 1920s Vienna.
Review:
Early example of Lubitsch's peculiar brand of sex comedy, with many egregious instances of the 'Lubitsch touch', where inanimate objects take on offscreen significance, or gestures and expressions lead to quid pro quo. E.g. At the breakfast table the husband taps his egg and the wife stirs a very muddy coffee; they kiss; cut to close-up of above-mentioned, with movement ceasing and hands withdrawing; in same shot, the hands return and push the items away. The whole is a light, sophisticated duel of femininity in which the men largely pass for saps, and barely a line of dialogue needs be intertitled. The only mystery is why the foxy Mizzi would be interested in dull old Dr. Braun in the first place.